Kerala lagging behind in biomass power output: Farooq

New Delhi: The government Friday expressed
concern over lack of enthusiasm by Left-ruled Kerala for
generating biomass power, but praised Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for their efforts.

"The leading states in producing biomass power are Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu..... Kerala has not done much,"
Minister of New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah said in
the Lok Sabha.

He informed the House that India has a potential of
generating 21,000 MW of biomass power.

Abdullah said a project on "Removal of Barriers to Biomass
Power Generation in India" assisted by UNDP/Global Environment
Facility (GEF) is being implemented by his ministry.
"Its objective is to identify barriers in large scale
commercialization of biomass power. The project inter-alia
involves establishment of 7-10 Model Investment Projects
(MIPs) in different parts of the country to demonstrate the
viability of investment and financing models," Abdullah said.
"The UNDP/GEF contribution for the project is US $ 5.65
million whereas the government contribution is US $ 5.24
million. The project is scheduled for completion in March,
2012," he said.